When I was pregnant with my older son, Randy and I decided to take a Lamaze class to prepare us for childbirth. Because his work schedule was even more crazy then than it is now, we opted to do a weekend away instead of a class meeting once a week. As luck would have it, 11 other really cool couples made this same decision and we had a truly wonderful weekend meeting new friends and getting scared about our impending births.
As we all had our babies within two months of each other, we formed a support group. We would get together once a week and cry and laugh and nurse our newborns. If I hadn't had this group of women, I'm not sure how I would have survived my son's first year. Of the twelve couples, six have moved away and the rest of us don't get together as often as we would like. We have all had second children now and our lives are crazier than ever. I have been trying to get away with my friends Joy and Lauren for the better part of a year now and this past weekend, we skipped town and went to Vancouver, B.C.
If you have never been to Vancouver, it is truly one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I think Seattle is beautiful, but when I go there, I am truly blown away. Like Seattle, there is water everywhere, but there the mountain practically sit on top of the city. There are terrific neighborhoods, great shopping, a very vibrant restaurant scene, and everyone is nice. I won't go into exhaustive details about our weekend but I will say the following...
I DID:
- sleep in a great bed in a nice hotel
- have wine with lunch
- shop for and buy a little black dress
- have INCREDIBLE Indian food at ViJ's Restaurant
- have incredible ravioli at Parkside Restaurant (the menu was specializing in game meats)
- have uninterrupted adult conversation
- enjoy time with two good friends
- miss my boys
I DID NOT:
- drive
- do dishes
- go grocery shopping
- change a diaper
- check email
- cook
- think much about cooking
All in all, a great weekend!
Showing posts with label restaurant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label restaurant. Show all posts
Monday, October 27, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
Dinners Out
I love to eat out. I am almost always disappointed by the actual eating-of-the-food portion of eating out, but I still look forward to it everytime.
The day I started this blog, I was on my way to a restaurant for a date night with my husband. I took notes of everything I ate and blogged about it. In the early days (waaaayy back in May), I thought I would include reviews of the restaurants we ate in over the course of our bi-monthly date nights and other nights out.
And then I came to realize that I was going to sound like a serious broken record. Do people really want to hear about what a bummer it was to have only one choice on the menu, and have that choice be a risotto or pasta, over and over again? If you don't live in Seattle, you probably couldn't care less about our restaurant scene anyway. If you do live here - well, it probably isn't all that interesting to hear about how eating out sucks for vegetarians. And if you are a vegetarian living in Seattle, you certainly don't need me to tell you how hard it is to find a thoughtful meal here.
But we had quite a weekend and I just had to share.
Friday night, Randy and I attempted to eat at Sitka and Spruce. We had some business in that part of town and had had a very good dinner there last summer. It is a tiny place with a huge emphasis on locally sourced foods. The menu is written on a chalkboard and changes every night. The two times I have eaten there, the food was very interesting, perfectly seasoned, and a treat to eat.
When we arrived to put our name in, we were told it would only be a 20 minute wait. We went across the street to have a drink and then went back after about 30 minutes only to be told it would be another 15. We stood at the bar and ordered a bottle of wine and some appetizers and waited. My salad arrived (perfectly dressed and generously sized) and we waited and we waited and waited. Finally, after Randy's appetizer was not materializing, and we had been waiting an hour and 40 minutes for what was supposed to be a 20 minute wait, we asked for the check. There was no apology, there was nothing taken off the bill. We were mad enough that we even left some wine in the bottle - a crime! Why oh why do restaurants do this?? If they had told us over an hour initially, we would have thanked them and gone somewhere else. Now we will never go back.
Saturday night we went with some friends to try Poppy, a new restaurant from the previous chef of The Herbfarm - a Northwest institution. The Herbfarm is kind of our French Laundry and is a place I have still not eaten. I remember hearing tales of their infamous reservation policy (you could only call on one day for the following six months) and just couldn't muster the energy to play the game. These days, I think things have gotten a little less Napa-y, but we still haven't tried it.
The concept of Poppy (which is a beautiful space - it does not feel like you are fleece-clad Seattle) is eating in the Indian style of Thali. A thali is a round tray and the way of eating is where many small offerings of food in individual dishes are gathered together on the tray. For someone who always complains that I only get to have one flavor in my meals out (my pasta to your steak, starch, and vegetable), it was an intriguing and exciting idea.
I will still maintain that I was excited by the food. Of the ten (ten!) things on the tray, eight were already vegetarian and the other two could be substituted out. There were some lovely things on there - most notably the Sunchoke Soup - but all together it didn't wow me, or the other five people I was dining with. Again, I have to appreciate the concept and I would return if for no other reason than to get to taste lots of different things in one meal. I would definitely plan to eat dessert somewhere else - all three that we had were totally forgettable, and the apple "deep dish" had way undercooked apples and an almost inedible crust.
This brings me to Sunday night. Randy was out of town and my sister-in-law had a mom's night out, so my two brothers and I had take-out together. I can't remember the last time we were together without a spouse or our parents joining us. It was really nice to spend some time with them and just delightful to watch the cousins all play together. We decided to get sushi so my brother Michael and I walked up to Kisaku to get it.
People who eat fish say this is one of the best places in town for sushi. As a veg, I am not one to judge. I do like that this place has several vegetarian rolls on the menu, but one contains something deep fried, and the other contains mayo - both things I hate in sushi. So I order very simply from that place. Apparently not simply enough as I woke in the middle of the night with an incredibly upset stomach. It was severe enough for me to know that I had some kind of food poisoning - an ironic fate for a vegetarian. I called them today to tell them and they graciously said they would refund the whole meal. A very intelligent gesture but I can tell you I will never go there again.
So three nights out and two restaurants on the black list!
The day I started this blog, I was on my way to a restaurant for a date night with my husband. I took notes of everything I ate and blogged about it. In the early days (waaaayy back in May), I thought I would include reviews of the restaurants we ate in over the course of our bi-monthly date nights and other nights out.
And then I came to realize that I was going to sound like a serious broken record. Do people really want to hear about what a bummer it was to have only one choice on the menu, and have that choice be a risotto or pasta, over and over again? If you don't live in Seattle, you probably couldn't care less about our restaurant scene anyway. If you do live here - well, it probably isn't all that interesting to hear about how eating out sucks for vegetarians. And if you are a vegetarian living in Seattle, you certainly don't need me to tell you how hard it is to find a thoughtful meal here.
But we had quite a weekend and I just had to share.
Friday night, Randy and I attempted to eat at Sitka and Spruce. We had some business in that part of town and had had a very good dinner there last summer. It is a tiny place with a huge emphasis on locally sourced foods. The menu is written on a chalkboard and changes every night. The two times I have eaten there, the food was very interesting, perfectly seasoned, and a treat to eat.
When we arrived to put our name in, we were told it would only be a 20 minute wait. We went across the street to have a drink and then went back after about 30 minutes only to be told it would be another 15. We stood at the bar and ordered a bottle of wine and some appetizers and waited. My salad arrived (perfectly dressed and generously sized) and we waited and we waited and waited. Finally, after Randy's appetizer was not materializing, and we had been waiting an hour and 40 minutes for what was supposed to be a 20 minute wait, we asked for the check. There was no apology, there was nothing taken off the bill. We were mad enough that we even left some wine in the bottle - a crime! Why oh why do restaurants do this?? If they had told us over an hour initially, we would have thanked them and gone somewhere else. Now we will never go back.
Saturday night we went with some friends to try Poppy, a new restaurant from the previous chef of The Herbfarm - a Northwest institution. The Herbfarm is kind of our French Laundry and is a place I have still not eaten. I remember hearing tales of their infamous reservation policy (you could only call on one day for the following six months) and just couldn't muster the energy to play the game. These days, I think things have gotten a little less Napa-y, but we still haven't tried it.
The concept of Poppy (which is a beautiful space - it does not feel like you are fleece-clad Seattle) is eating in the Indian style of Thali. A thali is a round tray and the way of eating is where many small offerings of food in individual dishes are gathered together on the tray. For someone who always complains that I only get to have one flavor in my meals out (my pasta to your steak, starch, and vegetable), it was an intriguing and exciting idea.
I will still maintain that I was excited by the food. Of the ten (ten!) things on the tray, eight were already vegetarian and the other two could be substituted out. There were some lovely things on there - most notably the Sunchoke Soup - but all together it didn't wow me, or the other five people I was dining with. Again, I have to appreciate the concept and I would return if for no other reason than to get to taste lots of different things in one meal. I would definitely plan to eat dessert somewhere else - all three that we had were totally forgettable, and the apple "deep dish" had way undercooked apples and an almost inedible crust.
This brings me to Sunday night. Randy was out of town and my sister-in-law had a mom's night out, so my two brothers and I had take-out together. I can't remember the last time we were together without a spouse or our parents joining us. It was really nice to spend some time with them and just delightful to watch the cousins all play together. We decided to get sushi so my brother Michael and I walked up to Kisaku to get it.
People who eat fish say this is one of the best places in town for sushi. As a veg, I am not one to judge. I do like that this place has several vegetarian rolls on the menu, but one contains something deep fried, and the other contains mayo - both things I hate in sushi. So I order very simply from that place. Apparently not simply enough as I woke in the middle of the night with an incredibly upset stomach. It was severe enough for me to know that I had some kind of food poisoning - an ironic fate for a vegetarian. I called them today to tell them and they graciously said they would refund the whole meal. A very intelligent gesture but I can tell you I will never go there again.
So three nights out and two restaurants on the black list!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Birthday Weekend
Anyone who knows me can tell you that I am a total dork about my birthday. I have been this way since I can remember. Counting down the days to my birthday (starting one month prior) while still in grade school is one thing. Doing the same into my thirties is another.
Now that I am officially in my late thirties (!) and have two kids with their own birthdays to get excited about, I can report that I have become slightly less of a dork. I can no longer answer automatically how many days are left in the countdown - I actually have to count. On the big day, I no longer feel like I want to go up to the top of the Space Needle and shout so the whole world can hear, "Today is my birthday!" However, I do still kind of expect everyone who I interact with (including complete strangers) to wish me a happy birthday. Is it because I am a summer baby? I never had the cupcakes brought to school and no classroom full of children ever sang to me - am I still searching for that attention? And if so, why?
Fortunately, my husband indulges me and works hard to make me feel special on my birthday. This year we went to Portland for the weekend without our kids. This was the first time we have been away from both of them and, as much as I adore them, it was much needed. The idea of having one full day of just doing whatever we (all right I) wanted without having to take their eating and sleeping schedules into account was, well, glorious. We didn't even really mind that it took us 4 1/2 hours to get there and back because traffic was awful - there were no children in the car and we actually had time to talk.
What do you do in Portland? Well, eat and shop. It is a much smaller city than Seattle, but has an incredibly vibrant restaurant scene and fantastic boutique shopping. I spent quite a bit of time researching restaurants and obsessing over which two would be perfect. I whittled it down to about 5 options because all the cross-referencing I did brought up the same five. Based on menus I saw online, I made the choice to go to Park Kitchen and Bluehour.
Friday night we went to Park Kitchen and I really can't say enough good things about the place. We had an 8:30 reservation (pushed back from 7:30 because of the traffic) and they weren't ready to seat us. We grabbed a seat in the bar and Randy proceeded to almost pass out. He is hypoglycemic and for some reason, it takes him a while to realize that he desperately needs food. Sometimes I can recognize that he is being weird because he needs to eat and sometimes I just think he is being weird. Fortunately, he was able to ask the hostess for some bread and the most incredible giant slices of bread were in front of us before we knew it. As an apology for the table taking so long (we didn't sit until after 9), she also brought us some salted cod cakes which looked like giant fried golf balls and Randy said tasted like fish sticks - in a good way.
After that, the dinner was just lovely. We had an amazing server named Holly who, in addition to having just the right amount of cheer, was incredibly knowledgeable and opinionated about the menu. I love it when a server tell you with zeal what their favorite dish is and what to stay away from. As she brought us our salads (farro with giant chunks of feta and fava beans for me; green bean, apricot, and hazelnut with a caramel crouton for Randy), I mentioned that we had reservations at Bluehour the next night. She made a face. Was it too swanky, I wondered. She said that indeed it is kind of a see-and-be-seen place, and if we just wanted to eat good food, we should go to Lovely Hula Hands, another restaurant in the five I chosen from.
Our entrees continued in the same vein as the appetizers, interesting and delicious. I had stone-ground grits that were somehow the consistency of risotto (but with that amazing rich and buttery corn flavor), topped with a trio of beans - fava, wax, and kidney. They had been tossed with some kind of vinaigrette so the balance of rich, salty and acidic was perfect. Randy told me over and over again that I had to write about the lamb sausage he was loving to death, although I assured him that it really didn't have a place on a vegetarian blog.
As the meal wore on, and we loved the vibe more and more at this simple and yet sophisticated restaurant, I made up my mind. For my birthday, swanky was out and simple was in. We cancelled the reservation at Bluehour and decided to drive to a totally different part of town to check out Lovely Hula Hands.
We never did get the story behind the name of this place. Our experience there was good - it is on a very cool street and the place is small and sweet. They don't take reservations so we had to wait a good long while which kind of spoiled the mood of the evening for us. The food however, was terrific. Randy had a zucchini carpaccio for a starter and I had a perfectly dressed arugula salad with hazelnuts and pecorino cheese. My imaginative entree made me curse all the risottos and pastas I have had at Seattle restaurants. Two huge cornmeal crepes filled with greens and ricotta, topped with a salsa of tomatoes and beans. Take that Restaurant Zoe!
Now that I am officially in my late thirties (!) and have two kids with their own birthdays to get excited about, I can report that I have become slightly less of a dork. I can no longer answer automatically how many days are left in the countdown - I actually have to count. On the big day, I no longer feel like I want to go up to the top of the Space Needle and shout so the whole world can hear, "Today is my birthday!" However, I do still kind of expect everyone who I interact with (including complete strangers) to wish me a happy birthday. Is it because I am a summer baby? I never had the cupcakes brought to school and no classroom full of children ever sang to me - am I still searching for that attention? And if so, why?
Fortunately, my husband indulges me and works hard to make me feel special on my birthday. This year we went to Portland for the weekend without our kids. This was the first time we have been away from both of them and, as much as I adore them, it was much needed. The idea of having one full day of just doing whatever we (all right I) wanted without having to take their eating and sleeping schedules into account was, well, glorious. We didn't even really mind that it took us 4 1/2 hours to get there and back because traffic was awful - there were no children in the car and we actually had time to talk.
What do you do in Portland? Well, eat and shop. It is a much smaller city than Seattle, but has an incredibly vibrant restaurant scene and fantastic boutique shopping. I spent quite a bit of time researching restaurants and obsessing over which two would be perfect. I whittled it down to about 5 options because all the cross-referencing I did brought up the same five. Based on menus I saw online, I made the choice to go to Park Kitchen and Bluehour.
Friday night we went to Park Kitchen and I really can't say enough good things about the place. We had an 8:30 reservation (pushed back from 7:30 because of the traffic) and they weren't ready to seat us. We grabbed a seat in the bar and Randy proceeded to almost pass out. He is hypoglycemic and for some reason, it takes him a while to realize that he desperately needs food. Sometimes I can recognize that he is being weird because he needs to eat and sometimes I just think he is being weird. Fortunately, he was able to ask the hostess for some bread and the most incredible giant slices of bread were in front of us before we knew it. As an apology for the table taking so long (we didn't sit until after 9), she also brought us some salted cod cakes which looked like giant fried golf balls and Randy said tasted like fish sticks - in a good way.
After that, the dinner was just lovely. We had an amazing server named Holly who, in addition to having just the right amount of cheer, was incredibly knowledgeable and opinionated about the menu. I love it when a server tell you with zeal what their favorite dish is and what to stay away from. As she brought us our salads (farro with giant chunks of feta and fava beans for me; green bean, apricot, and hazelnut with a caramel crouton for Randy), I mentioned that we had reservations at Bluehour the next night. She made a face. Was it too swanky, I wondered. She said that indeed it is kind of a see-and-be-seen place, and if we just wanted to eat good food, we should go to Lovely Hula Hands, another restaurant in the five I chosen from.
Our entrees continued in the same vein as the appetizers, interesting and delicious. I had stone-ground grits that were somehow the consistency of risotto (but with that amazing rich and buttery corn flavor), topped with a trio of beans - fava, wax, and kidney. They had been tossed with some kind of vinaigrette so the balance of rich, salty and acidic was perfect. Randy told me over and over again that I had to write about the lamb sausage he was loving to death, although I assured him that it really didn't have a place on a vegetarian blog.
As the meal wore on, and we loved the vibe more and more at this simple and yet sophisticated restaurant, I made up my mind. For my birthday, swanky was out and simple was in. We cancelled the reservation at Bluehour and decided to drive to a totally different part of town to check out Lovely Hula Hands.
We never did get the story behind the name of this place. Our experience there was good - it is on a very cool street and the place is small and sweet. They don't take reservations so we had to wait a good long while which kind of spoiled the mood of the evening for us. The food however, was terrific. Randy had a zucchini carpaccio for a starter and I had a perfectly dressed arugula salad with hazelnuts and pecorino cheese. My imaginative entree made me curse all the risottos and pastas I have had at Seattle restaurants. Two huge cornmeal crepes filled with greens and ricotta, topped with a salsa of tomatoes and beans. Take that Restaurant Zoe!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
The Weekend, Part One: Friends
The Subtitle of this post is "The Vegetarian goes to a Steakhouse".
This weekend is a crazy one for us. Lots of time with friends and family and LOTS of food, so I decided to break it down into a "friends" post and a "family" post. Tomorrow's post will have photos and a recipe or two.
Friday night we went to El Gaucho with Deb and Jeff, our wonderful neighbors and friends, and the builders of our house. We have shared many a happy hour together; summer ones out on the deck while the older kids chase each other around the yard, and winter ones where it is dark by 4:30pm and we are wondering how to survive until the kids go to bed. During one of these happy hours we somehow got on the topic of eating dinner at El Gaucho and the fact that Jeff had never eaten there. Jeff is - how do I put this? - a meat and potatoes guy, emphasis on the meat. I often bring them food and he is always lovely about it, but I'm sure as soon as I am out the door he asks his veg-friendly wife, "What the hell is this crap?" So I found it funny that I have been to the Palace of Meat and he hadn't.
We hatched a plan to go for the July birthdays (Jeff and me) and had a great meal and a lot of fun with them. You may be wondering - why on earth would someone who has been a vegetarian for 22 years want to go to a place that is basically a celebration of meat? Actually, there are several reasons. I'm a sucker for a baked potato and they have a great one. I know exactly what I am going to get (side dishes) so there is none of the expectation that is almost always dashed when I go to other restaurants. The service there is impeccable. And it is so swanky. I always feel like I am in some other city or some other time when I go there. And they have Bananas Foster of which I don't eat the bananas or the ice cream, but would drink the caramel sauce out of a wine glass if I could get away with it.
We were out pretty late but I managed to get up and go for a run the next morning before some family came over (more about that tomorrow). We were a little rushed because we needed to catch a ferry to go to Bainbridge Island for a get-together with our supper club.
This club started soon after my older son was born. Because that whole period of my life is a little foggy (sleep deprivation, anyone?), I don't remember why that suddenly seemed like a good idea. Whatever my thinking was, I was certainly inspired when it came to asking the couples I did. I picked an old friend, a medium friend, and a new friend couple. Jen and Tom (I've known Jen since middle school), John and Lauren (I've known them for 12 years), and Lauren and Travis who Randy and I met at the Lamaze class we did together. All are people who love food and wine, and all are people who I sensed would really hit it off.
We hosted the first dinner in February of 2005 and have been getting together on a regular basis ever since. We have eaten a lot of great food, drank a lot of great wine, shared some wonderful late nights at Jen's parents' incomparable compound on Whidbey Island, and celebrated the births of four of our children together. The group has gelled wonderfully - having a supper club night is one of my very favorite things to do in all the world.
Saturday, Jen and Tom bravely opened their home to all of us with our children. Now, they have four of their own, so not much phases them, and their home and incredible yard is so idyllic and safe, you just relax as soon as you get out of our car. With a baby on her hip, Jen proceeded to put together delicious snacks and an early dinner for us, only to have us rush off and leave them with a huge mess so we could catch our ferry back to the city. Sorry guys!
I offered to bring dessert since it seemed crazy to me that she was going to cook for eight adults and ten children - thankfully she took me up on it. I went against my intuition (which is all-chocolate-all-the-time, except in summer when maybe a fruit pie is acceptable) and made a Hazelnut Brown Butter Cake from the Sunday Dinners at Lucques cookbook. Deb at Smitten Kitchen raved about this cake and also noted that she covered the cake in a chocolate ganache, so I figured I would go for it.
Truthfully, I didn't like it. But I don't really like nuts, especially in my desserts, so I guess it's not surprising that I really just wanted to lick the ganache off the top and do away with the cake. But Lauren F., who is a big fan of my desserts, said it was in her "top five" - wow! I'll have to file that away. Randy politely ate his piece and half mine but I know him and I know he didn't like it. Maybe he is not a nut guys either. Because I didn't love it, I am not going to post the recipe but if you are a hazelnut lover, check it out here.
This weekend is a crazy one for us. Lots of time with friends and family and LOTS of food, so I decided to break it down into a "friends" post and a "family" post. Tomorrow's post will have photos and a recipe or two.
Friday night we went to El Gaucho with Deb and Jeff, our wonderful neighbors and friends, and the builders of our house. We have shared many a happy hour together; summer ones out on the deck while the older kids chase each other around the yard, and winter ones where it is dark by 4:30pm and we are wondering how to survive until the kids go to bed. During one of these happy hours we somehow got on the topic of eating dinner at El Gaucho and the fact that Jeff had never eaten there. Jeff is - how do I put this? - a meat and potatoes guy, emphasis on the meat. I often bring them food and he is always lovely about it, but I'm sure as soon as I am out the door he asks his veg-friendly wife, "What the hell is this crap?" So I found it funny that I have been to the Palace of Meat and he hadn't.
We hatched a plan to go for the July birthdays (Jeff and me) and had a great meal and a lot of fun with them. You may be wondering - why on earth would someone who has been a vegetarian for 22 years want to go to a place that is basically a celebration of meat? Actually, there are several reasons. I'm a sucker for a baked potato and they have a great one. I know exactly what I am going to get (side dishes) so there is none of the expectation that is almost always dashed when I go to other restaurants. The service there is impeccable. And it is so swanky. I always feel like I am in some other city or some other time when I go there. And they have Bananas Foster of which I don't eat the bananas or the ice cream, but would drink the caramel sauce out of a wine glass if I could get away with it.
We were out pretty late but I managed to get up and go for a run the next morning before some family came over (more about that tomorrow). We were a little rushed because we needed to catch a ferry to go to Bainbridge Island for a get-together with our supper club.
This club started soon after my older son was born. Because that whole period of my life is a little foggy (sleep deprivation, anyone?), I don't remember why that suddenly seemed like a good idea. Whatever my thinking was, I was certainly inspired when it came to asking the couples I did. I picked an old friend, a medium friend, and a new friend couple. Jen and Tom (I've known Jen since middle school), John and Lauren (I've known them for 12 years), and Lauren and Travis who Randy and I met at the Lamaze class we did together. All are people who love food and wine, and all are people who I sensed would really hit it off.
We hosted the first dinner in February of 2005 and have been getting together on a regular basis ever since. We have eaten a lot of great food, drank a lot of great wine, shared some wonderful late nights at Jen's parents' incomparable compound on Whidbey Island, and celebrated the births of four of our children together. The group has gelled wonderfully - having a supper club night is one of my very favorite things to do in all the world.
Saturday, Jen and Tom bravely opened their home to all of us with our children. Now, they have four of their own, so not much phases them, and their home and incredible yard is so idyllic and safe, you just relax as soon as you get out of our car. With a baby on her hip, Jen proceeded to put together delicious snacks and an early dinner for us, only to have us rush off and leave them with a huge mess so we could catch our ferry back to the city. Sorry guys!
I offered to bring dessert since it seemed crazy to me that she was going to cook for eight adults and ten children - thankfully she took me up on it. I went against my intuition (which is all-chocolate-all-the-time, except in summer when maybe a fruit pie is acceptable) and made a Hazelnut Brown Butter Cake from the Sunday Dinners at Lucques cookbook. Deb at Smitten Kitchen raved about this cake and also noted that she covered the cake in a chocolate ganache, so I figured I would go for it.
Truthfully, I didn't like it. But I don't really like nuts, especially in my desserts, so I guess it's not surprising that I really just wanted to lick the ganache off the top and do away with the cake. But Lauren F., who is a big fan of my desserts, said it was in her "top five" - wow! I'll have to file that away. Randy politely ate his piece and half mine but I know him and I know he didn't like it. Maybe he is not a nut guys either. Because I didn't love it, I am not going to post the recipe but if you are a hazelnut lover, check it out here.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Too Much "Pop" in the Paparadelle
What a bummer.
On Friday, we went out to dinner with our friends Kimrick and John. I had the good fortune of being in a fabulous co-op preschool class with my older son for a few years and that is where I met Kimrick. She is a transplanted Southerner and she radiates warmth and friendship. We hadn't spent enough time with them until last summer when we went to Lake Wenatchee for a weekend. We had a blast with them and their two kids but did not love the incredibly windy spot where we spent said weekend. John told us on Friday night that when he tells people he went there, 75% of them ask, "Was it windy?". YES.
Last August was a long time ago, so we were overdue for a dinner out with them. To my delight, she asked if we wanted to go to Tilth. This is an almost exclusively organic, lovely little restaurant in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle. Recently, it was written up in the New York Times as one of the restaurant critic's favorite restaurants in the country outside of NYC (read the article here). I had eaten there once before with a friend but Randy had never tried it so I was really excited to go.
The menu at this restaurant is inspired and inspiring. Everything sounds delicious and to my delight, there were two vegetarian main course offerings and only one of them was pasta! The waitress came by to tell us about the special and it was a - can you believe it - vegetarian risotto. I know I have bitched here about only being offered pastas and risottos in restaurants, but I have to say, I have never been told about a special that I could actually eat. I wanted to stand up and applaud!
The great sounding menu made choosing hard. We agreed to share appetizers and then each order our own main dish. One of the nice aspects of this restaurant is that everything is offered in two different sizes. So you can order enough to share or to eat all by yourself - you have a lot of flexibility. We shared a Zucchini Squash Salad and a Dungeness Crab Salad to share (no crab for me) and my expectations were high.
And this is where the evening went downhill. Not from a company standpoint, we had a wonderful evening talking and laughing with Kimrick and John. No, the food, oh the food! Everthing was sooooo SALTY.
I can hear my brother Michael saying, "But you used to put salt on you pizza!". And it's true. I did. I love my salt. I probably even over-salt my food. I had noticed, before the food came, that there was a little dish of sea salt on the table. This fact made me happy because I hate when restaurants don't include that small detail. The message is "our food is perfectly seasoned so you won't need salt!". But everyone's palate is different and, as I said, I tend to err on the salty side.
But this was something else entirely. The Zucchini Salad had some lovely components to it. Nice thin slices of the squash with arugula (one of my faves) and lots of crunchy hazelnuts with a nicely acidic lemon verbena scented dressing. I couldn't even taste the delicate sweetness of the zucchini though because of the salt. In the moment, I couldn't even pinpoint what it was that was bothering me about it because I am so used to under-seasoned food.
And then came the entrees. I ended up ordering the Truffled Papparadelle. What is it about Paparadelle? I just love that shape pasta. I am usually more of a stab-it-with-your-fork kind of girl in the pasta world (think rotelle, penne) than a chase -it -round-the-plate-trying-to-wind-it-on-your-fork type (think spaghetti, fettucine). Maybe it's because it is too big to attempt the wind-around but still has a much more delicate texture than the big chunky pastas. At some point, why ask why - the truth is I love the stuff.
This dish was a wonder to behold. On top of beautifully homemade noodles all wound around shocking green peas and pea vines (another one of my favorites), was a perfectly fried sunny-side up egg. It all but put out it's hand and said hello to me. There were no brown edges and even the bottom was perfectly white. I cut in to said egg and the gorgeous orange/yellow yolk spilled over my noodles and I literally started to salivate. But one bite told me something was dreadfully wrong.
Again, it was initially hard to place. I first thought, "Oh, it's too rich. The yolk with the obviously healthy amount of butter is just too rich for me.". A few bites later I realized that it was just so salty (in addition to being too rich) that it was literally starting to hurt my tongue. Another bite or two and I couldn't even look at the plate.
Kimrick, bless her, ordered the special so I got to taste something else. The risotto was made with morel mushrooms and thyme and topped with broiled goat cheese. It sounded so interesting that I almost chose that for my entree. But, to me, it was even worse than the pasta. The goat cheese was very strong and there was way too much of it so after one bite, all I could taste was the powerful tang of the cheese and, you guessed it, salt.
I know the desserts are supposed to be good at Tilth but Kimrick and John had to go get their kids and I was ready for a change of venue anyway. Almost immediately, I started to crave another Papparadelle dish. It is one that I have made many times before and I decided that I would modify it so as to include some of the best ideas from the restaurant dish without the dish-destroying salt. I originally started with a recipe from Cooking for Mr. Latte called Paparadelle with Lemon, Herbs, and Ricotta Salata, but I have made many changes. This is a much much lighter dish than I had at Tilth but it is something that I crave, especially with the changes I made most recently insprired by Tilth.
Paparadelle with Herbs and a Poached Egg
Serves 4
I am a kitchen gear-head and I have an egg poacher. If you love poached eggs like I do, this is a worthwhile investment because they turn out perfect in terms of both looks and taste. If you don't want to spend the $45 to buy one, I give instructions on how to poach eggs in a wide saucepan.
1 lb. paparadelle pasta
4 cups veggie stock
3 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly smashed
2 lemons, zest grated and juiced
3 tbsp. mixed herbs, chopped (I used thyme, tarragon, and Italian parsley)
1/2 cup English peas, shelled (or use frozen)
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
4 eggs
1) Put a large pot of water on to boil and when it is close, add a good sized handful of kosher salt.
2) Put the veggie stock in a small saucepan along with the garlic and bring to a boil, reduce the heat slightly so it is still boiling, and cook until reduced by half, about 20 minutes.
3) At some point during the cooking, add the peas (whether they are fresh or frozen) and cook for about one minute, then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
4) Once the stock is reduced, add the zest and juice of the two lemons, cover, and remove from the heat.
5) Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente, then drain.
6) To poach the eggs, bring a wide saucepan of water to boil. Add a couple of teaspoons of white wine vinegar and reduce the heat to a simmer. One by one, quickly break the eggs in to a ramekin and add to the saucepan. Once they are all in, cover the pan and turn off the heat. Set the timer for 3 minutes. Lift the eggs out of the water with a slotted spoon and pat dry.
7) Pour the paparadelle back in to the cooking pot and add the reduced stock. Give it a stir and add the herbs and the peas. Plate it, dust with Parmesan cheese and top with a poached egg.
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